India launches rocket with 36 internet satellites from London’s OneWeb

India launched a rocket carrying 36 internet satellites for London-based OneWeb.

The launch from southern India was OneWeb’s first launch since the Russian space agency broke with Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in March.

“We have completed the orbit very accurately and now the rocket is in the intended orbit,” said S Somanath, chairman of the Indian Space Agency.

He said 16 satellites had been put into orbit and expressed optimism that “the remaining 20 satellites will be separated as safely as the first of 16”.

OneWeb now has 462 satellites in flight — more than 70 percent more than what the company says is needed to provide broadband service worldwide.

Despite this year’s disruption, OneWeb said it is still on track to launch global coverage next year, with a planned constellation of 648 satellites. It already provides service in the most northern latitudes.

Each OneWeb satellite weighs approximately 330 pounds.

This is the 14th launch of the OneWeb satellite and relies on India’s heaviest rocket, usually reserved for government spacecraft. All previous OneWeb flights have been on Russian rockets; the first was in 2019.

Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, director specializing in space and security at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, said the launch was important for India and reflected its The space agency is gradually opening up to private clients.

Ms Rajagopalan said India is an expert in launching small satellites and has been trying to corner the market, positioning itself as a satellite launch facility.

With the war in Ukraine still raging, this could open up opportunities for India as many countries shun Russian launch services.

“It could stimulate this trend in a big way,” she said.